Breather cable



w. -v. SCHAFFHAUSER 2,910,524

Oct. 27, 1959 BREATHER CABLE Filed May 25, 1956 ,Z Z L J.

IN VEN TOR.

William I V Jcfiaff/zausefl 1 ATTORNEYS United States Patent 2,910,524 BREATHER CABLE William V. Schalihauser, Norwich, Conn., assignor to Plastic Wire & Cable Corporation, Jewett City, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application May 25, 1956, Serial No. 587,407 Claims. (Cl. 174-15) The present invention relates to an improved conductor cord or cable having a breather tube therein and more particularly to a cord set adapted to be connected to a submersible pump.

Heretofore, there has been a problem of maintaining proper pressure in the vent chamber of submersible pumps since undue pressure therein causes improper operation of the pressure valves therein.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a simple, yet effective unitary flexible conductor cord and breather capable of connecting a submersible pump to a source of electrical energy and also connect the vent chamber of the pump to the atmosphere so as to provide atmospheric pressure in the vent chamber of the pump so as to cause proper operation of the pressure valve therein.

This is accomplished by providing the cable with a plurality of centrally disposed conductors and a flexible breather tube enclosed in a filler material with a binder wrap binding the filler material together to form the core of the cable and enclosing the bound conductors and breather tube in a flexible sheath of insulating material.

Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the specification and claims when considered in connection with the drawings in which:

Figure 1 shows a conductor cord set of the present invention. i

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 2F-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 shows a cord set connected to the vent chamber of a submersible pump. I

As shown in the drawings, the cable comprises a plurality of centrally disposed conductors 11. As herein illustrated, three conductors are provided, each covered with an insulating jacket 12. Also extending coextensive with the conductors is a flexible impervious hollow breather tube 13, preferably of plastic, such as nylon, and preferably having a diameter substantially the same as the diameter of the insulated conductors. As shown in Fig. 2, the conductors and breather tube are preferably centrally located in the conductor cord or cable and the space between the conductors and breather tube is filled with jute or other similar filler material 14. The filler material,

conductors and breather tube are covered with a binding or serving 15 of binder material and an insulating jacket 16 of flexible material such as polyvinyl chloride or the like is provided over the binding layer.

In the preferred form of the invention one end of the cable is connected to a connector plug 17 with the end of each conductor connected to one of the usual projecting terminals 18. The end 13a of the breather tube, as shown in Fig. 1, extends outwardly from the plug and is open to atmosphere. Theother end of the cable is adapted to be attached to the motor M of the submersible pump 20 adapted to be located below the surface of the liquid N as shown in Fig. 3, and the other end 13b of the breather tube is connected to the vent chamber 20a of the pump so that thevent chamber is subjected to atmospheric pressure, thus permitting proper operation of the usual pressure-operated valves 21 in the vent chamber.

The cable of the present invention is simple and easy to construct and provides a unitary structure whereby the necessary power to drive the pump and the venting of the vent chamber can be provided in a simple and expedient manner.

While the Venting cable of the present invention has ICC been illustrated in connection with a submersible pump, it is to be understood that it may be used in any situation wherein a hollow tube is required to extend for the length of the conductors.

Variations and modifications may be made within the scope of the claims and portions of the improvements may be used without others.

I claim:

1. A flexible breather cable comprising a plurality of conductors and a flexible impervious nonmetallic hollow tube, said conductors and hollow nonmetallic tube being disposed within the cable and having filler material filling the spaces therebetween, said impervious tube opening outwardly of said cable; a binder layer around the filler material, conductors and breather tube; and an insulating jacket of flexible material surrounding the binder layer.

2. A flexible breather cable for use with a submersible motor-driven pump comprising a plurality of conductors and a plastic, impervious nonmetallic breather tube, said conductors and breather tube being in side-by-side relation and being centrally located in the-cable and having filler material filling the spaces therebetween, said tube opening outwardly of said cable; a binder layer around the filler material, conductors and breather tube; and an insulating jacket surrounding the binder layer, said conductors 'having one end connected to a source of energy and the other end adapted to be connected to the motor for the pump and said breather tube having one end open to the atmosphere and the other end adapted to be connected to the pump to vent the same.

3. A flexible breather cord set for use with a submersible motor-driven pump comprising a plurality of conductors and a plastic impervious breather tube, said conductors and breather tube being centrally located in the cord and having filler material filling the spaces therebetween, said breather tube opening outwardlyof said cord; a binder layer around the filler material, conductors and breather tube; and an insulating jacket surrounding the binder layer, said conductors having one end connected to a connector plug and the other end adapted to be connected to the motor for the pump and said breather tube having one end projecting from said outlet plug and open to the atmosphere and the other end adapted to be connected to the pump to vent the same.

4. A flexible breather cable comprising a plurality of elongate unitary conductors and a unitary flexible impervious nonmetallic tube, said conductors and hollow tube forming a substantially untwisted bundle, at filler material extending substantially throughout said bundle and filling the spaces between said conductors and said tube, a binder layer extending around said bundle to substantially completely cover the same, and an insulating jacket of flexible material surrounding said binder layer.

5. A flexible breather cable as in claim 4 in which said filler material includes elongate fibers extending substantially throughout the length of said bundle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,950,182 Kirch Mar. 6, 1934 2,050,991 Atkinson Aug. 11, 1936 2,095,090 Aime Oct. 5, 1937 2,259,129 Engster Oct. 14, 1941 2,416,561 Albin Feb. 25, 1947 2,531,156 Piercy et al Nov. 21, 1950 2,776,385 Modrey Jan. 1, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 217,249 Great Britain Aug. 6, 1925 599,736 Germany July 7, 1934 466,495 Canada July 11, 1950 909,951 Germany Apr. 26, 1954 

